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1. The Lumineers–Ho, Hey.–This was actually number four on the list, but the first three I had already reviewed, so this is where we are at. The video shows the lumineers at an Amish Prom? They sure like stomping on lights! Actually the music is nice. Not incredibly deep or anything, but nice. The biggest thing they remind me of is Ryan Adams. They do have a little of an Americana Hipster vibe. The weird thing is that hipsters are so wildly reviled, probably because most of them are white kids that are acting out before they get married, have kids, and move to the suburbs. Also, there’s so much more emphasis on image and having the right influences than even major pop stars have. Of course nobody labels themselves as hipsters–until they do.

2. Tom Clancy–Threat Vector–Today’s book made me a little surprised, though I have been out of the loop for a bit, but Threat Vector? Really? A Tom Ryan book? This being number 1 made me feel like it was the 90’s again and I should be really getting to class. Also, really really dumb name–Threat Vector sounds like a really bad thrash band that still covers White Lion at the local bar on Tuesdays that’s filled with like 50 year old men. Also, cyberwar with china? I’m somewhat grumpy today, but suffice it to say that cyberfear is one of the things I’m getting horribly tired of lately. It’s not like in the 1880’s they had all these books about how the telegraph was going to cause war and destruction and whatnot.

3. Stuart Edge Kissing Prank–Ok, so at the end of this stressful day this was totally what I needed. No Cyberwars, no hipsters, just some kids doing a really cute and sweet mall “prank” where they pretend to be taking surveys about Christmas things, and they ask (amid a bunch of questions) whether they kiss under the mistletoe, and just as they give their answer (almost always yes) mistletoe appears. The result is surprisingly sweet and wonderful. See, as yucky as humans can be, and as tempting it is to show ALL people as being yucky, it’s stuff like this that really reminds us what’s important, and also how wonderful people can be. Watch it, now!